Tamers Requiem: Twists of Fate, Prelude to Revival
by Crazyeight
Summary: Tamers Requiem continuation: The world changes and life marches on. A new mystery arises that will effect the whole digital world and the world of humans as well. A long awaited plan begins to move towards completion. Life...evolution...goes on.
1. Moonlight Reflections

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Twists of Fate: Prelude to Revival

A Digimon story by: Crazyeight

Chapter: 1/ Moonlight Reflections

Stars.

She had never quite considered them, those sparkling white points of light. They weren't quite what they appeared to be however, but their representation was similar enough that it probably didn't matter what they were in reality. Even though her mind told her the truth, to her human eyes, they were distant lights of mystery. The two saw different sides to one reality, and oddly enough she liked it that way. As she continued to stare into the mysterious sky, she found herself wondering if she saw it in the same way that humans themselves did.

_There was once a time,_ she thought to herself, _that would have been meaningless. I'm not human. I can't see things through their eyes. They created me, and I grew, but in the end…_

She brushed her hair out of her eyes—a human habit—and shook her head in bemusement.

_Shou wouldn't think that,_ she berated herself. _Neither would his friends from before._

Glancing behind her, she looked upon the large, diamond-like suit of armor that floated behind her. She focused her attention on her reflection. She appeared to be human, with light hair upon which a maid-like hat sat, but the six, metallic wings that sprung from her back marked her as something more—a digimon. An artificial life form that spread into the Internet and evolved, transforming itself and its environment as the communications network expanded.

_Not exactly,_ she smiled to 'herself'. No, she was a much higher existence than even those creatures, but in the end, she remained an artificial life form. Not human. To those that knew her however, it did not matter whether or not she was born biologically or created from the data of computer networks. All that mattered was simply…her. This pleased her that she would be so accepted rather than feared. It was a far cry from what she had grown to expect over the years since her inception. Gone were the violence and destruction that had marred the connection between the worlds of digimon and its birthplace, the worlds of humans…for the moment.

For the girl named Norn, the human and digital worlds clashed regularly, and she had come to expect it with the regularity of natural disasters as contact between the two continued to grow.

_It will persevere._

Norn knew this with the utter certainty born from experience that she wished she had sooner. She had learned many things recently about the nature of bonds, be it between humans alone, or between humans and digimon. Those bonds had carried both through tumultuous times, and won out in spite of all the odds that were against them.

_Barbamon…NEOS…so many lives, so many worlds. They all persevered in the end. If only I saw it sooner, so much could have been prevented. But that was my fault for panicking, and thinking that I could just start over. 'Old me' or not, the decisions were still mine._

"And the ones I make now are mine too," she said determinedly. "I promised Shou that I'd make this place a great world. That I'd give life back to it." Reaching out, she laid one hand on the geometric armor behind her, resting it upon her reflection as though she wanted to assure herself of her decisions.

_"You've become the new goddess to the digital world,"_ spoke the memory of a silver haired boy with a deep look in his eyes that appeared to look towards the future while simultaneously urging her to go towards it._ You need to reassure everyone with your smile."_

Norn smiled at the memory. It was her most recent one—oh, how it stung…so painful and yet leaving a sweet flavor behind— and amongst all the ones she had, it was perhaps one of the few that she treasured the most. It had been made during a time of parting—parting from a person that meant a great deal to her.

For in all her long years of existence, first as a program, then as a ruler, and then as the enigmatic girl known as Norn before ascending to what she became now, she discovered something that logic in all of its glory had failed to give her.

Love and friendship.

The power of bonds were outside the boundaries of logic. Her firsthand witness of it had been what drove her out of the armor that she had worn and into the world of humans to learn more. And she had _learned._

_I didn't know then,_ she thought again. _I wish I knew before…before everything._

Memories flashed through her mind, and in response the geometrically shaped armor began to make a humming noise. Images of knight-like figures, tall, proud, and powerful with their flashing steel, fought within the human world, destroying cities wholesale. Misery, suffering, two worlds preparing to collide…and before that, within the digital world. More death. More destruction, all in the name of survival, as digimon had grown too great to be controlled…their destructive powers increasing with every generation. No wonder some humans grew to fear them. She understood in greater detail what led to the genocide that followed the 'Restoration'. Her fear for her own existence had driven her to device programs and to cull unwanted specimens. In spite of all her intentions, it all backlashed on her.

She hadn't been the same then, but those memories remained hers.

"But they are not the now. Things are different now. It is time to build a new world."

Yes. She would fulfill her promise to that boy…to him and his friends that had given solid foundation on the idea that had formed its first seed from so long ago. The first seed that literally had knocked some sense into her.

"I'll make you proud Shou Kahara," she said firmly to her reflection. Closing her eyes she melted into the armor and light sprang to life within its electronic eyes. _"I can only hope,"_ she continued, her voice altering into a more mechanical one from within the armor,_ "that I can one day show you the new world that I promised to protect. No more viruses…no more wars."_

With one final burst of light, Norn…_Yggdrasil_…disappeared from view to begin her journey.

The night grew still for a moment before a black void appeared briefly, disturbing the starlight that shone down upon the digital plain. Receding a male figure stepped out from its depths, a stark expression on his face as he regarded the spot where Norn had disappeared from. Raising his wrist to his chest, he tapped his breastbone and a series of glowing, violet colored, flame patterns flared the length of his body before receding to the left area of his face and throat.

"Primary documentation file," he intoned in a mechanical voice. "Subject: Yggdrasil, Artificial Intelligence Communications Interface, program _Norn_ is now on the move. Recommendation: implementation of failsafe protocols."

The flame patterns disappeared into the man's skin and he ran a hand through his hair, chuckling humorously."

* * *

A/N: For a while now, I contemplated whether or not I had anything left to say concerning the Tamers Requiem world. Much to my surprise ideas did end up coming to me in scattered bits and eventually I began working towards putting them into a coherent form. Not sure how much will end up getting past the editing process but I felt the need to see some of them take some concrete form. I'm working to sew together a lot of continuities here. In terms of this short work, we see bits of the aftermath from the Digimon Next manga (which can be read for free at onemanga(dot)com for those that are curious about it, and it is likely necessary to do so in order to understand anything about Norn and the slight references she makes to that manga). While the manga isn't important in the long run (from what I can tell from my notes for this story anyway) it sets down some character development for Yggdrasil, and how he/she relates to the digimon series as a whole, from the first appearance in Ryo's games as ENIAC, to X-Evolution, to Savers (yes, Savers), and then in Digimon Next. I'll be drawing all of this in a bit more in the next chapter. The story following this, will be called 'Tamers Revival: The Gathering', which will return to the Tamers world following the events of Less than Human, three years later. I intend to start work on this after I have finished 'Four Seasons' and 'The Dreamer'.

'Till then.

-Crazyeight

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2


	2. Malice is Forever

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Twists of Fate: Prelude to Revival

Chapter: 2/ Malice is Forever

Gleaming claws shone beneath the digital sun as they grasped at the desert sand. Metal screeched and grated as a broken figure pulled itself along. It was dragon-like in its appearance, wearing metal armor that at one point had been glorious, but was now a shattered mess of rent metal and tattered wings. Behind it was a long trail, of which even though it was being gradually consumed by the desert, it spoke of the distance that it had crawled.

_Damnation,_ rasped the creature known as Maelstrom. Pain surged through every inch of his body…what little remained of it that is. Behind him trailed glimmering data from where its legs and part of its waist used to be. This was all that he had been able to construct following his apocalyptic battle with the Royal Knight known as Gallantmon—the biomerged form of the Tamer Takato Matsuki and his partner Guilmon. Their last attack had torn him apart, quite literally, and it took nearly everything he had to put himself back together. And of course, there followed the _All-Delete_ attack that had come out of nowhere and overwhelmed the digital world. Unlike the digital world, it did nothing to reset him and he found himself crawling along, striving to find shelter and data with which he could repair himself with. He had a mission to carry out, and he could not afford to stay in one place for long.

Alas, it appeared to him that with each day that went by, he would not be able to carry out his function. Deletion appeared to be only a matter of inevitability now. Certain. How long he had depended on how much energy he continued to use.

_If I can just find data to load…_

Useless. He knew it too. How much time had passed since he rebuilt himself? Since that wave of energy reconstructed the failing digital world and obliterated the swarm of DexDoruGreymon that had been tearing it apart? He didn't know. Time had become…_strange_ since then. Although he didn't know the shape of it or where it was, he knew something out there was moving, causing the oddities.

"My, my," spoke up a jovial voice. I come on the trail of a god, and I find a fallen angel."

Looking up, Maelstrom saw a human standing in front of him. He was tall with loose brown hair rustling in the breeze. He wore a small smile, as though he found something about Maelstrom's condition amusing.

"Data…" growled Maelstrom. His senses suddenly went into overdrive. Hunger flared and he threw his broken body forward, claws straining to reach the human. Something in his mind blared an alarm, but he was too intent on his target to pay any attention to it. The need for fresh data was overpowering, and he would have it, no matter the cost.

The human's eyes glowed with a purple light, and flame-like patterns crisscrossed his skin before lashing outwards like bladed whips. Before Maelstrom could even react, the energy lashed around his right arm and sawed through his armor with frightening ease, separating the limb from him. Maelstrom collapsed back onto the sand with a howl, his free claw clutching at where his right arm used to be, trying to staunch the flow of data before its loss could damage him any further. The human gazed at him dispassionately before raising the arm that his energy whips held, looking it over.

"So…just a copy I see. Just _his_ voice. That's all you are? How disappointing." The human glanced over at Maelstrom. "But then again, perhaps not. GranDracmon would never have fallen as far as you have." A soft chuckle escaped his lips. "…As ironic as that sounds for someone like him…"

Maelstrom growled angrily. The 'human'—if that was what he was—studiously ignored his threatening snarl. His energy whips tossed the disembodied arm to the side and retracted onto his skin before disappearing.

_Who is this human?_ Wondered Maelstrom, fighting to keep his mind clear through the pain that assailed him. _No…he's not human. He doesn't give off the same scent as one. He's not even a digimon either, nor is he related to anything digital…_

"You might as well give up trying to figure out what I am," said the human, snickering to himself. Maelstrom hid his surprise at the human, but he was not fooled one bit. Tapping the side of his head, he continued. "Your thoughts come in the form of frequency patterns firing within your digi-core. Normally it's hidden by your outer shell, but you have very little of that remaining to you. You're practically an open book to me in your condition."

"What do you want?" Maelstrom growled. It sounded weak. Data was flowing out of him despite his best efforts. He wouldn't be long for deletion now.

"You know…I didn't want anything from you. I have pressing business to attend to but…" the human tapped his chin thoughtfully as he carefully considered Maelstrom. "You do have a connection that I can use. _Connections_ I mean."

Crouching down, he looked at Maelstrom at eye level.

"What do you say? Care to lend me a hand? I've got a project that I wish to see finished, as do you from what I 'read' in your arm. I'll even let you try to complete yours. It fits within mine after all."

Maelstrom's eyes narrowed. It was starting to become hard to think, and his vision was blurring. He still had enough strength remaining to question this entity…whatever he was.

"…Why…?"

"Why?" The human chuckled. "Because I wish to see the future. I want to see what comes about at the cusp of evolution. We're at the tipping point, and the project is starting to come to completion. _A _completion anyway. The next stage comes after…well. I don't know for sure, except that I'll know it when I see it." The human paused to let that sink in before resuming. "What do you say? Do you want to see the future too? You don't have much remaining as you are now—and it'd be better than just bleeding all over the desert like that. You're ruining its complexion."

Maestrom's vision faltered, but his mind's eye did not. Within it he saw the image of a light-brown haired boy with crimson eyes and a red dinosaur-like creature standing next to him—Takato and Guilmon. They had escaped him…as had the Sin of Pride, reformed and redeemed into the digimon known as Lumemon.

_My mission…_

"Your master's plan can still be completed you know," urged the human. "The seven seeds can still be planted. All they need is the right…_push."_

_ Yes…_

Maelstrom didn't realize that he had said it out loud, but that didn't matter. His claw was reaching out towards the human, and the two clasped each other firmly.

"You have made the right decision," the human said, his eyes dancing in amusement. "Now the sight of the future belongs to us."

* * *

2


	3. The Next Step

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

Twists of Fate: Prelude to Revival

Chapter: 3/ The Next Step

Stepping out of her armor Norn breathed the crisp cool, evening air of the digital world. A part of her wondered why such a thing as oxygen even existed in the digital world, as it was not a world run by organic life or even necessary for the humans who visited it. She smiled softly at the rather silly thought, another part of her wondering if it was a result of her contact with the humans, Tsurugi Tatsuno and his friends, especially Shou Kahara, that had brought it about. The digital world was what it was because of the humans. Everything that existed was because of human conception, ironically both because they could perceive of new things, and because they couldn't. It was a strange dichotomy, but that was what made the digital world what it was, both good and bad; ugly and beautiful.

A soft, just barely detectable sound reached her ears, causing Norn to turn around in surprise. Her smile disappeared as quickly as a Firefly. Approaching her was a human, tall and languid with unkempt, loose brown hair blowing in the soft breeze that played across the digital desert. A dark smile spread across the humans face, and violet lines of light sprung around his face and hands.

"Hello again, Norn," he said, "I have a job for you."

The human's body blurred before vanishing, and all at once Norn felt a shock of alarm tear through her mind, causing her to leap into the air, metallic wings springing from her back. She quickly looked down, expecting the human to be launching an attack where she stood, only to be surprised when he stood calmly next to her armored, Yggdrasil shell, staring up at her smugly.

"You are so predictable," he said teasingly. Laying one hand on the Yggdrasil shell, lines of light separated themselves from his arm and merged with the armored form. Lights flickered on in its mechanical eyes as it came alive.

"How…?" began Norn, completely taken aback by this sudden change in events. The human, if he could even be called that, threw his head back and laughed.

"Do you even _have_ to ask? You remember what Barbamon did, right? You left your body and he 'moved in'. Took you captive while you were vulnerable too, and started the whole chain of events that led to your dear Shou Kahara and the rest getting dragged to your world and having to fight Neos. Not your brightest move. Did that Data Squad member, Marcus, damage your core worse than you thought when he struck you? Or are you still suffering from what happened to you with Omnimon after he gained the X-Antibody?" The human thumbed his nose and looked up at Norn with an expression of disappointment. "Hell…if we really had to we could trace it all back to when that moronic Tamer unleashed the Digital Hazard on the digital world and sent everything haywire."

Norn gasped in surprise. All of those names…those _events!_

_ How can he know about them? They were all separate incidents, and with the changes that have swept over the digital world following the incident with Neos and Project X, any recorded data should have been wiped! The only ones who could know would be those that participated in them! _

Norn pursed her lips together. The incident with Neos, following hotly on the heels of the trouble involving the Data Squad, the world where the human Marcus Damon hailed from, was a rather public event so she was hardly surprised by his knowledge of that, and the conflict with Marcus' world could hardly have been kept secret either. Precise events, such as Barbamon's possession of her Yggdrasil shell, were harder to know about than having the digital world nearly collide with that of humans.

"Who are you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. The man smirked.

"You wound me, dear Norn. Well, maybe not so much. You were but a simple program when you came into this world. Human children oft don't remember much about their early years, and we _all_ know just how much of an influence humans have on the digital world and the inhabitants in it. Well, it'd be pointless to give you the full story, but if you need an identity, then you may call me _Prometheus._ A fitting name I think…"

"What is this all about?!" she demanded, summoning her staff.

"Now, now…if I told you then what would happen to all the fun that would be had? _Secrets,"_ Prometheus emphasized, wagging a finger at Norn, "are meant to be uncovered by those worthy of it. You don't kiss and tell." Rocking back on his feet, Prometheus gave a dejected sigh. "Yggdrasil? Please capture your former mistress. I have a job that I would like her to take care of."

The machine of armor turned to face Norn. Plant-like tentacles with green thorns lashed out from its shoulder guards, seeking their former owner. Norn flapped her wings and wove around them with ease. Narrowing her eyes she looked into the hull, bright light flashing across her irises.

_I see what he did now,_ she thought. _He created a dummy algorithm that sits in my place, using the abilities of my armor. It would have limited access to its functions, but as long as I'm on the outside, that limitation is going to suffice._ Norn gritted her teeth together, remembering Prometheus' words. _I shouldn't have left my armor. Every time I do, something bad happens._

As though to confirm her thoughts, one of the tendrils whipped and struck the back of her head with a loud _crack_. White light exploded within her skull, and her wings faltered in their task, sending her plummeting towards the desert sands below. Vines lashed outwards from the Yggdrasil shell, wrapping themselves around her before she could hit the ground and bringing her to a halt. Norn shook her head, striving to clear it.

_If…if I can just reorganize the right algorithms…_

"Give it up, Norn," crowed Prometheus as he hovered in the air above the mass of vines. "I've suppressed the majority of your programs. Don't expect your Arbitrators, VictoryGreymon and Z'dGarurumon to help you this time. This isn't like when Barbamon imprisoned you and took your armor."

Norn pursed her lips together and closed her eyes. A second later, she began mumbling beneath her breath and lines of data began to materialize around her. Seeing this, Prometheus sighed and shook his head.

"I should have known. You're as stubborn as all of those human children you keep meeting up with. I wonder if you get it from them."

Glancing over at the Yggdrasil armor, Prometheus snapped his fingers. Lightning crackled around its shoulder guards and prisms appeared around it. Light rapidly filled them and they surged towards Norn like a shower of meteors. Dust and sand flew through the air as prisms impacted against their target, drowning out Norn's screams of pain. The prisms continued to strike regardless, one after another slamming into her until finally her shrieks quieted down. Slowly, ever so slowly, the sand that hung in the air began to settle back down to earth, and Prometheus flew down next to the fallen goddess. A sorrowful look crossed his features as he reached out and brushed aside her hair.

"My apologies, but this is how things must be done. Your personal evolution was not a part of the plan, and as such, a few things must be…_corrected_ before events can be allowed to continue." Prometheus tilted his head to one side. "Rest assured, that even though your evolution wasn't part of the original plan, it has been accounted for. The Proteus look forward to the kind of data that you'll be giving us. You are quite special. I only hope that you have the strength to bear what you're going to be made to do."

"…Won't…" Norn whispered, the word just barely escaping her lips. "…Not again… I…promised Shou…"

"I know. But this is for the future of the digital world."

"…The future…" Norn's mind, clouded as it was from the pain of battle, went back to an earlier time when she had been imprisoned by her tormenter, the Demon Lord Barbamon when he had been preparing to resurrect the digital entity, Neos in order to rebuild the digital world. In Prometheus' place she saw the demonic, long-nosed features of Barbamon leering down at her, confident in his victory. Now, as she did then, she spoke defiantly to him, unwilling to believe that his vision of the digital world would emerge victorious over the hearts of the chosen heroes who were then coming to rescue her.

"…Those, who showed me…the future of the…digital world…were not wrong…" she croaked. Prometheus looked at her, as though taken aback by her words before nodding in agreement.

"No. They weren't," he replied. "But that's not for us to decide anymore. Only the gauntlet will choose. Are the human worlds ready…for the next step in evolution? Their actions will determine it." Violet lines crossed Prometheus' skin as he pressed his hand against Norn's cheek. He looked regretful as the lines fed themselves into Norn.

"It is time," he said. "The gauntlet is thrown down. Time to play. The choice of destiny is here."

* * *

Prometheus walked through the desert alone, his mind distant and thoughtful.

_There will be no help from the Royal Knights,_ he thought to himself. _They've all gone down their own paths since the events of both the Data Squad world and that of Project X. I may be able to push them into the right directions but…_ Prometheus shook his head. _It's unlikely, and I shouldn't count on them. Besides, there are other powers out there, and with Yggdrasil back in the picture, events will get rolling soon enough. This is the crucial point. Anything can happen. All that's left is just one thing, and one thing only…_

"Maelstrom," he said aloud. In response, his shadow shifted and rose into the air before expanding, taking on a solid form of razor sharp metal. Cold air burst from the steel dragon's mouth as it took a breath of the night air.

"You summoned?" the creature known as Maelstrom asked. Prometheus nodded. "Then it's time?"

"Not quite yet. Don't worry, you'll get to your project soon enough. We just need to make one more wave here. What we do is going to affect everything, and everything doesn't count if we don't include your birth world."

Maelstrom raised an invisible eyebrow at that. "You mean…?"

"You know the paths to the Dark Ocean, don't you? I think it's time we shook things up a bit. This game isn't complete without the Seven Sins and their masters, am I right?"

Maelstrom's eyes glowed blood red in response. Prometheus chuckled inwardly.

_All a part of our calculations…

* * *

_

A/N: And that's it for Twists of Fate: Prelude to Revival. Yeah, very short. It's more or less meant to set the stage for the series 'Tamers Revival' (if I'm ever able to get around to working on it), which returns to the Tamers Requiem world about three to four years after the conclusion of Less than Human. In the meantime, I'll be planning this out, working to finish Four Seasons, The Dreamer, and my original fiction. Hope to see you then. 'Till next update. :)

-Crazyeight

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3


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